U-turn in A&E

Mumsnet have a famous thread called AIBU - Am I being unreasonable?

Yesterday, I asked myself - am I being too cautious? Did we just go to hospital...for nothing? 

Grab a chair and I'll tell you.

We are now in the process of tapering Tess' course of steroids, as prescribed. That means her body has to do without anti-inflammatory support. Steroids should only be used short term, if at all possible. 

For 2 nights she got wheezy and a bit breathless before bed. I phoned the GP and, like me, she didn't feel 100% confident that we had 'the full story,' and she supported my desire to have Tess's chest checked again.

The GP wondered if an X-ray might be useful, so we were advised to go to kids' A&E. In a pandemic, in case you hadn't noticed.  

Well, Glasgow NHS, I was impressed at your infection control measures. 

A male nurse in PPE (or at least the UK version of PPE) sat outside the sliding A&E doors with a walkie talkie. He intercepted us and made sure we weren't just walking in from the street with....you know what. 

Inside, we sat alone in the waiting room before being checked by another nurse in full PPE (and elaborate tattoos - fair do's). 

We were offered surgical masks, 'to protect you and us' and we gladly tied them on. Tess' hairstyle looked inappropriately cute with the bows tied. 

Inside, the triage section, we sat behind a thin curtain, waiting our turn. I could hear the talk in other bed-bays. A wee girl had fallen and chipped her wrist bone (not, covid, phew!). A toddler boy was crying with some indeterminate malaise (no temperature - phew!)

Meanwhile, Tess continued to cough like a TB patient from a Victorian work house and I wondered what the other patients thought of us.

After what seemed like ages, but was actually 45 minutes, a young female doctor in scrubs and PPE examined Tess and asked various questions. She stood well back, and looked like she was practising keeping her distance, if not for us, then certainly for future cases.

She said an X-ray would only be suitable in cases of suspected pneumonia, and Tess didn't have that.  Not that I thought she did. I guess I just wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything, and yes it is so hard when your child seems stuck in a pattern of chronic illness. 

So we drove home and put all our clothes in the washing machine and I let my expectations settle a bit and I resolved to try to 'let more time pass'. 

Tess was asleep after 10pm and I felt my shoulders drop, just in time to switch on the horror show that is the nightly news. I don't linger there, I just need to know the headlines.

Then I watched my brother's out-there documentary about Scotland's history of swearing. If the word 'jobby' offends you, you'd best keep away. Otherwise, knock yourself out.